This is an online tutorial written for a ticketing software program, detailing the steps to process customer subscription renewals.

Tutorials | How to Manage Renewals To renew customer subscriptions using our software, you use the Manage Renewals feature. This requires mapping a prior renewable series to an active series and resolving all possible conflicts, generating invoices to send to customers, then updating those invoices when payment is received. Note: Manage Renewals uses the original subscription order as a basis for renewal. It does not support exchanged orders, as our software allows individual tickets to be exchanged out of the order, thus making it an invalid subscription. It will renew the original order, not the exchanged order. Glossary of Terms: Season: A run of shows for a specified time interval. Package: A grouping of shows that best serves a customer. Series: A group of performances at one or more venue layouts from which a customer may buy one or more seats. Subscription: A seat in a series sold to a particular customer. Flex Plan Series: A series from which a customer may select a variable number of performances--Flex Plan is not supported by Manage Renewals. Renewable Series: A series from which previous customer subscriptions are to be renewed. Active Series: A series into which previous customer subscriptions are to be renewed. Associated Series: A renewal relationship between a Renewable Series and an Active Series. Start Date: The date a customer first purchased subscription tickets in the our software system. Received Date: This date will reflect the date entered into the "Received" field on the invoice edit screen. This can be used as a payment received date, an upgrade request date, or other date you wish to track and sort regarding your customers. If you check the checkbox next to "Received", today's date will be automatically filled in. Conflicted Invoice: An invoice that contains an invalid seat or discount, or otherwise does not have its seats reserved by Renewal Holds. A conflict could also be caused by duplicate customer orders. These invoices cannot be printed or paid until the conflict is resolved. To associate a Renewable Series to an Active Series: Click "Sales", then "Manage Renewals". You see two drop down lists. The first list shows your available Renewable Series. The second list shows Active Series that may be associated to Renewable Series. Active Series should not include Flex Plan Series, and all performance dates in the Active Series must be in the future. The Active Series must have a matching or subset of subscription discounts and venue layouts of the Renewable Series or the mapping will fail. The third list shows Associated Series. This list will be empty until you map a Renewable Series to an Active Series. Select the appropriate Renewable Series and the Active Series you wish to map it to, then click the "Add" button. The Associated Series relationship will now show in the third list. Click "Save" to store the Associated Series. Highlight the new Associated Series and click "Edit", which takes you to the "Generate Invoices" screen. Click the link to go to the "Associate Renewal Holds" screen. The Renewal Holds screen allows you to establish customer-specific holds on subscription seats, and to optionally schedule a time at which those holds should be released. Use the "Change renewal holds from" drop down list to either specify the current seat hold (or "Open") from which seats should be transitioned to a new hold, or "Any" to ignore the current seat hold when setting the new hold. Note that if a specific hold (or "Open") is specified, and the seat is not currently in that hold status, it will not be changed to the new hold specified. Use the "Change renewal holds to" list to specify the hold to which the seats should be changed. Set the "Release holds on" date to the date and time at which the holds should automatically be released, or check the box marked "Never release holds" to prevent our software from automatically releasing the holds. Select the hold (or "Open") to which you wish to release the seats, if applicable, and click "Submit". Holds are applied to the seats in the orders, and you are returned to the Generate Invoices screen, where invoices are grouped by appropriate status (Valid, Conflicted, etc.). Select the "Valid Invoices" link to view the screen showing all valid invoices available for renewal. All invoices will initially be in the "pre-print" disposition. On this screen, you will need to set your source to match the source used when generating the invoice. This is so your discounts will match the correct source in the sales flow. You can see what source each invoice is under by looking at the source column on this screen. You will not be able to edit an invoice under a mismatched source. Check the box next to one of the invoices and click the "Generate" button. A new window will appear with a link that allows you to view the invoice. Click this link and a PDF version of the selected invoice will appear after automatically launching Acrobat Reader. You may select either HTML or CSV output for these invoices as well, by selecting the relevant radio button for the desired output. You may also view multiple invoices by selecting more than one invoice checkbox, or select all invoices by clicking the blue "Select" link. Once the invoice has been viewed in this manner, its disposition will change from pre-print to print. Sorting Invoices: You may want to sort the listed invoices differently than the default sort presented upon your first visit to the screen. This sort order is used during the upgrade process on the map. To select a different sort for the invoices from the default of Start Date, choose one or more criteria from the numbered radio buttons at the top of the invoice list, then click "Refresh". You may sort by Last Name, Received Date, Donations, Start Date, and/or by Customer Profile. Start Date is the date a customer first purchased subscription tickets. Received date will be the date you enter in the edit invoice screen, and it could refer to payment received date, upgrade request date, or any other date you'd like to track and sort by. Customer Profile refers to the attribute each customer may have flagged as "Show in Renewals" from the Customer Profile area. See the Customer Profile tutorial for detailed explanation of the Customer Profile sort on this screen and how to set up priority numbers properly. Each criteria selected will progressively sort the list after previous criteria have been applied to the list. This sort order will be preserved in cache when going to other renewal pages. Once you exit Manage Renewals, the sort order will revert to the default. Checking the "Upgrade Requested" checkbox on this page will mark the selected invoice for later upgrade, and after you click "Save" will remove that invoice from the Valid Invoice list and move it to the Invoices for Upgrade list. You can view this list by clicking the "Back" button. Click "Save" or "Submit" to store any changes you have made to the list of invoices, such as upgrade status or invoice deactivation. Editing Invoices: From an invoice list, click one or more checkboxes, or click the "Select" link to choose all invoices, then click the "Edit" button. You will see the invoice detail screen of the first invoice selected. When editing multiple invoices, the first invoice will display with a "Next" link at the bottom of the screen, allowing you to edit each invoice selected in turn. Next to that link is a number for each invoice selected, allowing you to jump immediately to a certain invoice. If you wish to change the discount of a ticket in an invoice, click the blue "Edit" link in the first column next to each ticket. This takes you to the Specify Discount screen, where you may select a new discount. Click "Go" to return to the invoice detail screen, where the discount and price of the ticket will be updated. You may click the customer name in the Customer Info area to go to an edit screen for that customer. Click "Submit" on that screen to return to the invoice detail page. Click the "Upgrade" button to use a seatmap to improve the customer seat locations. See below for instructions on how to use this map. Click "Save" or "Submit" to store any changes you have made to this invoice. Paying Invoices: Selecting the "Pay Invoice" button brings you to the Sell Subscription order screen with all information about the current invoice and customer filled in. You may also enter a confirmation number on the Pay Invoice Transaction Lookup screen and click "Go". Pay for the invoice as you would a regular order, clicking the "Finalize" button to transform the invoice into an order. On the order confirmation screen, click "Done" to be returned to the Manage Invoice screen with the invoice you just paid now removed from the valid/pending list. This order is moved to the Paid Order list. You can see these orders by returning to the Generate Invoice screen and clicking the "Paid Orders" link. You may view, exchange, or refund any orders listed there. You may choose multiple orders to exchange or refund by selecting their checkboxes individually or using the "Select" link to choose all orders. Click the "Manage Transaction" button to see the first order on the Manage Transaction order screen. A "Next" link will display, allowing you to manage each order in turn. When complete, you will be returned to the Paid Orders screen with all your orders listed. Deactivating Invoices: To deactivate an invoice, select a valid invoice from the list of invoices and click the "Deactivate" button. Multiple invoices can be deactivated at once by using the select toggle. You will be prompted to verify that you want the selected invoices deactivated. Click the "OK" button if this is correct. The deactivated invoices will then be removed from the valid invoice list, and will be moved to the "Deactivated Invoices" list. Once deactivated, the seats in that invoice are released. This deactivation is used to get rid of any invoices the operator no longer wants, but allows the ability to reactivate them if needed. You cannot pay, generate, or modify holds on deactivated invoices. To reactivate an invoice, select it from the "Deactivated Invoices" list, edit and select the "Active" checkbox next to Status and "Submit". It will then appear in the "Conflicted Invoices" list, as the tickets in this invoice are no longer reserved. You will be prompted to save on the edit screen. Select this invoice and click the "Modify Holds" button. The Associate Renewal Holds screen will come up. Keep the "Renewal Holds From" drop down list set to "Any", and change the "Renewal Holds To" to the hold in which you wish to reserve your renewal subscriptions. Set the "Release Hold" date to some time in the future and select the hold you wish to release the tickets to, then click "Submit". This will remove the invoice from the Conflicted Invoice list and place it on the Valid Invoice list. Conflicted Invoices: A conflicted invoice is one that contains an invalid seat or discount, or otherwise does not have its seats reserved by the renewal holds. For example, renewing a seat into a performance where that seat has already been sold would create a conflicted invoice. These invoices cannot be printed or paid. Conflicts may also occur due to duplicate customer orders. The conflict must be resolved by choosing new discounts or seats for the customer from the upgrade map, or in the cse of a duplicate customer order, one of the invoices must be deactivated. You will need to Modify Holds to set the holds again once the conflict is resolved in this manner, then the invoice will be placed on the Valid Invoice list. Upgrade Status Invoices: If any invoice has been marked for upgrade, the operator must save first before any other operation is attempted. This applies to all buttons on this screen except Cancel, Save, and Submit. Once the renewal has been saved, the invoices marked for upgrade will be taken out of the current list and placed on the Upgrade List. You can view this list by clicking the "Back" button. After you select invoices from the Upgrade List and click the Upgrade button, you will be presented with the Select Default Renewal Holds screen. You will need to enter the information on the holds here for these invoices, as they may be invalid invoices at this point. Use the "Change renewal holds from" drop down list to either specify the current seat hold (or "Open") from which seats should be transitioned to a new hold, or "Any" to ignore the current seat hold when setting the new hold. Note that if a specific hold (or "Open") is specified, and the seat is not currently in that hold status, it will not be changed to the new hold specified. Use the "Change renewal holds to" list to specify the hold to which the seats should be changed. Set the "Release holds on" date to the date and time at which the holds should automatically be released, or check the box marked "Never release holds" to prevent our software from automatically releasing the holds. Select the hold (or "Open") to which you wish to release the seats, if applicable, and click "Submit". The Upgrade Map: The Subscription Renewal Upgrade Map allows you to move the seat locations of one or more customers on a seatmap, based on customer feedback, years of subscription, donation level, and other critieria. It also allows you to resolve invoice conflicts by changing the discount associated with seats in the subscription, and to view relevant information associated with a given seat on the map. IMPORTANT NOTE: Any seat addition, deletion, move, or discount change on the seatmap is immediately saved to the database. This is required due to the complexity of the operations, and it ensures that your upgrade changes will not be lost for any reason. You may upgrade an individual invoice by clicking the "Upgrade" button on the invoice detail screen, or you may operate on a number of invoices by selecting one or more invoice checkboxes on an invoice list screen and clicking the "Upgrade" button on that screen. The upgrade map presents the customers/invoices in the order defined by the sort on the invoice list screen, so be sure that order reflects the order in which you wish to upgrade your customers. Information on sorting invoices is in the "Sorting Invoices" section above. At the top of the upgrade screen, you'll see the Season, Package, and Series name and each venue and layout as a blue link, if applicable. There is also a key that explains the color coding of the seats on the map. Below that are drop down lists for Holds and Price Scales. Choosing a specific hold or price scale will cause only those seats to display on the map, similar to the way the sales seatmaps work. Note that the customer seats involved in the upgrade session will always appear on the map, regardless of these list settings. All seats involved in the set of customers/invoices being upgraded appear highlighted in blue on the map, with the current/active customer seats showing as either black if reserved, or gray if part of the invoice is in conflict for any reason. Use Info mode to determine why a particular seat is in conflict. Select the radio button next to the mode you wish to be in for the next action--Move, Add, Delete, or Info. Setting this mode determines the behavior of subsequent seat clicks, so be sure you are operating in the correct mode before proceeding. To move a customer seat: Within a seatmap: Select the "Move" mode radio button. Select the customer seat to move. Note that this seat will appear with a white box when selected, letting you know it will be moving. Select the destination seat to which customer should be moved. Between section seatmaps: Proceed to the destination section seatmap. Use "Add" mode (see below) to select one or more seats for the customer. Note that you will not be required to specify a model seat on the first "add", but you will on subsequent selections. Proceed to the original section seatmap and use "Delete" mode to remove the original customer seat(s) from the invoice. Once complete, the new seat will be modeled on the old seat (if applicable) in terms of discount and hold status. The old seat will be removed from the invoice, changed to the "release to" hold status specified originally (or "Open"), if applicable. To add a seat to the customer invoice: Select "Add" mode radio button. Select current customer seat on which to model new seat (not required if first selection on map). Select a new available seat to add to the invoice. Note that the number of seats must be the same in all venue layouts of a series, so you will need to add seats to the other venue layouts (if applicable) as well in order to proceed to the next customer. To delete a seat in the customer invoice: Select the "Delete" mode radio button. Select the customer seat you wish to delete. The seat is deleted from the customer invoice. Note that the number of seats must be the same in all venue layouts of a series, so you will need to delete seats from the other venue layouts (if applicable) as well in order to proceed to the next customer. To view info for any seat: Select the "Info" mode radio button. Select a seat on the map. A new window appears with information about that seat. Select "Done" on the new window, or select another seat to view. Use the "Previous" and "Next" buttons to navigate through the upgrade customer invoices. The current customer seats revert to blue, and the new customer seats turn black and/or gray. Note that the current invoice will be validated when these buttons are used, and you will be prevented from moving from the current invoice if there is a seat mismatch among venue layouts in the series. Use the "Select" button to view a list of all customer invoices currently involved in the upgrade process. Selecting the invoice number next to a customer will cause the upgrade map (after validation, described above) to advance directly to that customer invoice, with the associated seats highlighted. Note that the current customer is in red, and that invoice number is not a link. Click "Done" to close the window without advancing to a new customer invoice. Click the "Edit" button to show the Modify Seat Discount window for the (white box) selected seat, which shows the current seat discount displayed in the list. You may choose a new discount for the seat, then click "Submit" to update the invoice. Click "Cancel" to close the window without changing the seat discount. When you have finished your customer upgrades, click the "Done" button to be returned to the invoice list. Note that any invoices that have changed status because of operations you performed will no longer show in this list. They will now appear in the appropriate invoice list on the Generate Invoices screen.

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